The event was called "Paddle From The Heart" and it fittingly turned into a heart-warming tribute to Michael Tongg.

More than 300 paddlers participated in the canoe race, which was a money-raising event for the Tongg family. In conjunction with Tongg's wishes, the event featured various "fun" canoe races off Duke Kahanamoku Beach, Waikiki.

"It's overwhelming to see all these people here," said Jan Tongg, Michael's wife. "People we haven't seen in years are coming up to us."

Michael Tongg, a former champion paddler and influential administrator in the sport of canoe paddling, has been battling lung cancer since 2003.

Yesterday's event was coordinated by the 'Anuenue Canoe Club — one of the clubs that Tongg once paddled with.

"I don't think Michael realizes how many friends he has," said Joseph "Nappy" Napoleon, the president of 'Anuenue and a longtime teammate of Tongg's. "When we first planned this, we were thinking it was going to be a small race. But we ended up with over 50 teams."

Tongg and Napoleon were teammates on the Waikiki Surf Club crews that won the prestigious Moloka'i Hoe in 1966, '69 and '73. Napoleon said he wanted to organize yesterday's event "while Mike was still here to see it."

"He's been sick for a while, a lot of people knew," Napoleon said. "But he did so much for this sport, I said let's do this for him now so he can enjoy it, too."

Tongg, 63, was the president of the Hawaiian Canoe Racing Association for nearly 20 years. The HCRA is the governing body of team canoe-paddling in Hawai'i.

"It really is heart-warming to see how he's affected this community in so many ways," said his daughter, Stacy. "We grew up at the beach, at the canoe races, but I don't think I realized how much he did for the sport until I got older."

Michael Tongg and his wife Jan, have four children — Malissa, Stacy, Michael Jr., and Matthew. All of them were involved in paddling at one time or another.

"If you come to our house, all you see is canoe paddles," Jan said.

Tongg was also president of the Polynesian Voyaging Society, and took pride in spreading the sport of canoe paddling around the world.

"I won my share of races as a competitor," Tongg said. "But something inside of me said I had to give back a little more to the community. That's why I decided to get into the administration side of it and tried to promote the sport world-wide."

Tongg was also an influential coach, and the lessons he taught were still being used yesterday.

The Waikiki Surf Club crew of Tim Twigg-Smith, Mike Judd, Danny Loui, Greg Edwards, Curt Cottrell and Jim Beaton won the men's distance race yesterday. They were coached by Tongg around 10 years ago, and reunited for yesterday's race.

"We had all gone our separate ways, but once we heard about this, we all called each other and said we had to do it," Edwards said. "When we got into that canoe, we said 'paddle from the heart.' This was for Michael, definitely."

The event was named "Paddle From The Heart" because that was Tongg's favorite saying.

"His speeches were legendary," Edwards said. "You felt what he was saying. You could see and hear how much the sport meant to him."

There were various races yesterday, but Tongg wasn't too interested in the results.

"Competition is good, but this is more about fun and family," he said. "They're saying today is for me, but I would rather it be in honor of our canoe culture and heritage."

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.